


After it All, It Begins Anew

by shewritesall



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Kidnapping, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Red Room (Marvel), Retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:09:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: It's been five years since the Avengers defeated Thanos and Natasha and Steve had traded the world-saving life for a simple life together.  Married life has suited them pretty well if they do say so themselves.  However, just because they quit the Avengers doesn't mean they get to rest.  Especially when someone from Natasha's past comes to pay a visit.





	1. Chapter 1

Natasha woke up to light kisses being peppered over her bare shoulder.  The sun lit up their room and Steve’s chest was warm against her back. She smiled and rolled over, blinking up at Steve and receiving a short, sweet kiss in response.  She buried her face in his chest and he chuckled, a sound that echoed through his chest and caused her to shake as well.

“Good morning, baby,”  he said. She just moaned and hugged him.  She didn’t care how late or early it was, staying in bed was always a good idea.  Steve, however, seemed to think otherwise as he tried to slip out of her grasp.

“No,”  she whined, wrapping her arms around him tighter.  She wrapped her legs around him as well in an attempt to prevent him from moving, but it was no use when she was half asleep.  Steve kissed her temple and gently unwrapped her arms from around him.

“I’m going to go make breakfast,”  he told her. She huffed but let him slide out of bed.  Once he was gone, she decided she didn’t like staying in bed as much as she thought she did.  She slid out of bed, fixing her tank top so it wasn’t twisted, and followed Steve downstairs.

It’d been five years since they’d quit the Avengers.  Five years since they’d defeated Thanos once and for all and decided they were done with the world saving thing.  They deserved peace after all they’d been through and they finally had it. Tony had helped them find a nice house in the countryside of upstate New York, only ten minutes away from the Compound, and the team had all helped them move in.  Steve and Natasha still helped them train, but they no longer went on missions. Much to Natasha’s surprise, she discovered she didn’t mind the simple life as much as she thought she would. She rather enjoyed it.

“What’s for breakfast?”  she asked, making a beeline for the coffee machine.  Steve had already set out her cup so all she had to do was pour coffee into it.  She walked up behind Steve, wrapping an arm around his waist and using her other one to hold her coffee mug.  Steve was busy frying eggs, but he moved his arm so she could duck under and snuggle closer.

“Tony and Pepper are coming over in a couple hours,”  Steve reminded her. Natasha glanced at the clock on the stove and was surprised to find it was nearly 9:00 in the morning.

“Are they bringing Morgan?”  Natasha asked. Steve turned off the stove and Natasha moved out of his way so he could grab two plates.

“I don’t think so,”  he replied. Natasha took another sip of her coffee then set it on the counter so she could take both plates from Steve.  “They said something about leaving her with Rhodey so we could all go out.”

“We’re going out?  I thought they were just coming over for lunch,”  Natasha said. Steve shrugged and set the empty frying pan in the sink.

“We’ll see what the plan is when they get here,”  he said, taking his plate from Natasha and trading her for a fork.  “Things change.”

“Yes, they do,”  Natasha agreed. They sat at the counter to eat instead of the table, chatting quietly and taking their time.  They didn’t have any plans for the day other than having Tony and Pepper over, but that wasn’t for another two hours.  It only took twenty minutes for them to finish their breakfast and while Steve did the dishes, Natasha took a shower and changed.

She wasn’t sure if they were going to end up going into town, so she grabbed a pair of jean shorts and one of Steve’s shirts.  She tucked the front of his shirt in her jeans then walked back downstairs to find Steve. He wasn’t in the kitchen and didn’t respond when she called him, so she checked outside.  Sure enough, he was standing on the edge of the porch, looking out across the large backyard. She quietly slid the glass door open and walked up behind him.

“Hello,”  she said softly, wrapping her arms around him from behind and kissing his shoulder blade.  He twisted around so he was facing her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her temple then smiled down at her.

“Is this my shirt?”  he asked, lightly tugging on it behind her.  She grinned and he rolled his eyes. “You know you have your own clothes to wear, right?”  he teased.

“I like yours better,”  she replied. Steve chuckled and cupped her face gently.

“I like them better on you anyway,”  he told her. He kissed her slowly, drawing it out and pulling back each time she tried to deepen it.  She huffed in frustration as he pulled back just enough their lips weren’t touching. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against her.

“Then fucking prove it,”  she growled, still annoyed with him for teasing her.  She yelped in surprise when Steve’s hands moved from her face to under her thighs.  He lifted her up and smashed his lips against her, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.  Her arms went around his neck subconsciously and drew him closer to her. Steve pressed her against the wall of the house and Natasha’s arms tightened around his neck as she stumbled, almost losing her footing when he set her down so abruptly.  He was rarely rough with her, so she was a caught off guard.

“We have an hour, yeah?”  Steve asked, kissing her hard enough she didn’t have the breath to reply.  He didn’t give her enough time to even think about replying before yanking off her shorts and shoving himself in her.  She let out a combination of a gasp and a moan, collapsing against his chest at the sudden feeling. That was definitely not what she had expected.

“Oh god, Steve,”  she moaned, her knees buckling as he thrusted against her harshly.  Her vision swam and she leaned against him in order to remain standing.  Steve grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, continuing to thrust deep and hard.  Her arms tightened around his neck in a weak attempt to support herself. The only thing her body was aware of was just how good it felt each time Steve pushed deeper and further inside her.  She didn’t care if she couldn’t see straight at the moment or that Pepper and Tony could walk out and see them, she just wanted to let Steve do his thing and enjoy the moment.

When Steve pulled out—much too soon in Natasha’s opinion—she was only staying upright because Steve was holding her up.  She could barely feel anything below her waist and only knew Steve had pulled her shorts back up when she felt him buckle them and brush his fingers against her stomach.  He bent down and pulled up his own pants before gently picking her up and carrying her over to the lounge chair that sat on the deck. He sat down, leaving Natasha on his lap, and laid back.  Natasha closed her eyes, laying with her chest against Steve’s as her legs dangled over the sides of the chair. Her knees were nearly touching the wood of the deck and her bare feet faced the sky, but she was comfortable with her head resting in the crook of Steve’s neck and his arms around her back.

“Are you alright?”  Steve asked softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“You can take control every time from now on,”  she mumbled, closing her eyes. Steve chuckled and kissed her forehead.  They laid on the lounge chair in silence and ten minutes later, Natasha was sleeping.  Steve just smiled and peppered soft kisses on her hairline before closing his own eyes and leaning his head back.  He was definitely living the good life.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve opened his eyes at the sound of the front door opening.  He couldn’t see inside the house from where he was laying, but he could hear Tony’s muffled voice asking Pepper something followed by a softer response.  It took them less than a minute to spot Steve and Natasha sleeping on the porch and soon they were stepping onto the deck themselves. Pepper sat on the cushioned bench across from Steve and Tony joined her after quietly shutting the sliding glass door.

“What’s up with Red?”  he asked quietly, nodding at Natasha who was still fast asleep on Steve’s chest.  “You guys forget to sleep again last night?”

“Tony,”  Pepper hissed, swatting at him.  He just smirked as he leaned back against the bench and wrapped an arm around Pepper’s shoulders.

“For your information, we slept through the entire night peacefully,”  Steve replied, running a hand down Natasha’s back. Last night had, in fact, been a nightmare-free night, something they hadn’t had in a while.

“I don’t believe that for a second,”  Tony said. Steve rolled his eyes as Tony stared at them as if he was doing the world a favor by learning about Steve and Natasha’s sex life.  “You must have done something considering Natasha wakes up if you so much as breathe differently and she didn’t even move when we walked in.”

“I woke up the minute you walked in the house, Anthony,”  Natasha mumbled, her eyes still closed. “Contrary to popular belief, you’re not threatening enough to stay awake for.”

“I’m slightly offended,”  Tony replied. Natasha smirked but didn’t move from her spot on top of Steve.  “So what was it? Foreplay? Punishment? I need to know every sin Captain Saint over there has committed.”

“No sin was committed,”  Natasha replied. She opened one eye to see Tony’s response and smirked when it took him just over seven seconds to figure out what she meant.  He groaned then glared at her.

“I didn’t need to know that,”  he told her. Natasha just grinned and snuggled closer to Steve as a light wind blew over her.

“You were asking about it,”  Steve reminded him. Tony rolled his eyes and promptly changed the subject.

They talked on the back porch for hours.  They talked about everything from how Morgan was doing in school and whether or not Natasha could teach her how to shoot to how the new team was doing on missions.  Like Steve and Natasha, Tony had officially retired from the Avengers. He still went on missions every now and then if it was guaranteed to be easy and the risk of death or serious injury was none, but Steve and Natasha would only go back if they were really needed.

“When you’re fighting aliens, guns and shock sticks aren’t really that helpful,”  Natasha said when Tony mentioned they hadn’t been at the last alien fight. It had really only been a handful of Chitauri coming back to see if they could conquer the Earth themselves.  It was easy to destroy them now that they had some of the Chitauri tech themselves; it had also only been about 70 aliens in total. 

“They are when they’re on the same level as the aliens we’re fighting,”  Tony replied. Natasha rolled her eyes then pushed herself off Steve’s chest so she was sitting upright instead of laying on his chest.  She shifted so Steve could sit up as well and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Are we going into town for lunch or should I have planned something here?”  Natasha asked, glancing from Tony to Pepper.

“We can go out somewhere,”  Pepper told her. Natasha nodded then looked at Steve.  He kissed the side of her head then stood up. Pepper threw out some ideas of where they could go to eat, Tony vetoing almost every single one, while Steve helped Natasha to her feet.  She stretched, letting out a low groan as she realised she was much sorer than usual.

“Alright there, Red?”  Tony asked, smirking over at the two.  She scowled at him and ignored the noticeable throbbing that occurred with each step.

“You probably couldn’t even sit up if you’d just been fucked beyond comprehension,”  she snapped. Steve turned to her, surprised she’d been so outright with it and that she’d told Tony.  Tony seemed just as surprised, recoiling immediately as the image of Steve on Natasha filled his mind.

“Don’t tell me that!”  he whined, shaking his head vigorously to erase the image.  Natasha smirked and walked past him into the house, leaving Pepper to deal with Tony while she grabbed some shoes.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha was sitting on the living room couch, slowly drinking some coffee, when her phone rang.  She glanced at it, not sure who would be calling so early on a Saturday morning, and picked it up immediately when she saw Pepper’s name.  Steve was out on a run, but she’d been up for nearly five hours. After a particularly horrible nightmare around 2:00 AM, she hadn’t been able to sleep and resorted to reading in the living room.

“Hey, Pepper,”  she greeted. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Natasha,”  Pepper replied. There was shuffling on the other end of the line and Pepper mumbled something Natasha couldn’t understand.  “I’m sorry, but Morgan has the flu and Tony and I are in meetings all day. If I sent a jet out to the Compound, could you come stay with Morgan for the day?”

“Of course,”  Natasha replied immediately.  She closed her book and set it on the coffee table.

“Thank you so much!”  Pepper said, sounding relieved.  Natasha smiled to herself at the idea of spending all day with her niece.  “The jet’s on its way and should be there in about half an hour.”

“Alright,”  Natasha said.  She said goodbye and hung up before draining the rest of her coffee and heading up to the bedroom.  She changed out of her robe and pyjamas, pulling on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. She walked back downstairs at the same time Steve came back from his run.

“Going somewhere?”  Steve asked, watching as she grabbed the key to her motorcycle.

“Morgan’s sick and Pepper needs me to watch her for the day,”  Natasha told him. It’d been three days since they’d last seen Tony and Pepper and a full week since she’d seen Morgan.

“Do you want me to join you?”  Steve asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.  Natasha shook her head then stretched to kiss his jaw.

“Enjoy your day off,”  she told him. “Spend some time with Sam or hide away in the house, just enjoy yourself.  I’ll text you once I know what time I’ll be back.”

“Alright,”  Steve said. She tried to walk away, but Steve pulled her back to him and kissed her full on the lips.  She tasted like coffee and even though they kept the kiss short and sweet, he only pulled away when he felt her hands on his face gently push him back.  “I love you,” he told her, kissing her cheek.

“I love you too,”  she smiled. He let her go, watching as she stepped into the garage and walked towards her motorcycle.  When the door shut and he could no longer see her, he went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day.  After he was dressed, he called Sam up then made himself breakfast.

* * *

When Natasha landed on Stark Tower, she was greeted by Tony in a suit.  She raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes, saying something about it being a professional meeting and Pepper hiding all his other clothes.  Pepper sent him downstairs to get Happy while she briefed Natasha on how Morgan was doing.

“She’s asleep right now, but it probably won’t be for long,”  she said. Morgan had a fever and was sleeping fitfully, according to her.  There was flu medicine on the counter and soup on the stove cooking. “We’ll be back around 9:30 tonight.  I know it’s late, but we have an after-hours meeting in Berlin and can’t get back before then.”

“Don’t worry about it,”  Natasha assured her. Pepper grabbed her purse and Natasha walked with her to the elevator.

“Good luck,”  Pepper said. Natasha waved as the elevator doors closed then went to check on Morgan.  Just like Pepper had said, she was asleep in her room. She was covered in only a sheet and was curled around a stuffed bunny.  Natasha smiled and left the room, leaving the door open so she would hear Morgan if she called.

* * *

“Auntie Nat,”  Morgan cried. Natasha walked into her room to see Morgan sitting up on her bed, tears streaming down her red face and her blankets all on the floor.

“What’s wrong, baby?”  Natasha asked, sitting on the bed.  It was the fourth time Morgan had woken up and her fever was still as high as before.

“I can’t sleep,”  she said between sobs.  She crawled onto Natasha’s lap and Natasha wrapped her arms around her, pressing her cheek to the top of Morgan’s head.  Morgan’s whole body was burning, but she was shivering as if she was cold. Natasha kissed her head then gently put her hands on Morgan’s face.  She kissed all of Morgan’s small tears until she was just hiccupping and no longer crying.

“Do you want some more soup?”  Natasha asked. Morgan shook her head then hid her face in Natasha’s chest.  “Are you cold?” Morgan nodded and Natasha sighed. She moved further on the bed and leaned against the headrest.  Morgan laid on her chest, clutching her stuffed bunny and continuing to shiver. Natasha reached for the nearest blanket and pulled it over them.  It didn’t take long before Morgan was hot and wanted the blanket off.

“I just want to sleep,”  she whimpered, tears beginning down her cheeks once again.

“How about you go take a cool bath,”  Natasha said, picking up Morgan, bunny, and all.  She carried the four year old into the bathroom and filled the tub with cool water.  While the tub filled, she helped Morgan pull off her sticky pyjamas and set her stuffed bunny on the sink counter.  Morgan climbed into the bathtub and Natasha brought some toys over for her to play with.

While Morgan played with the boats and rubber ducks, Natasha scrubbed her clean.  She washed Morgan’s dark hair then laid her back in the tub to rinse it out. Morgan didn’t seem to mind the fact that the water wasn’t warm and Natasha was willing to let her stay in the tub for as long as she wanted.  The last time she had watched a sick kid was when Lila Barton had the flu. Laura had told her cool baths could bring down a fever and after checking with FRIDAY, it seemed to be working with Morgan.

“Auntie Nat?”  Morgan asked, looking up from her toys and over at Natasha.  “Can I have some more soup?”

“Of course,”  Natasha answered.  She put her phone on the sink counter and grabbed a towel to dry Morgan with.  She drained the tub and rubbed Morgan all over with the pink Sleeping Beauty towel.  Once she was dry, Natasha carried her into her bedroom and found some new pyjamas. Morgan happily got dressed then went to find her bunny while Natasha heated up some soup.

“Yummy!”  Morgan said, eating the soup quickly.  After finishing the soup, Morgan settled down on Natasha’s lap in the living room.  Natasha had FRIDAY turn on a movie for them and Morgan managed to stay awake for half of it.  Natasha didn’t bother moving her back to her bedroom and contented herself to work on a few things on her tablet while Morgan slept on her chest.  Her fever had gone down quickly after the cool bath and she was almost back to normal.

Morgan slept for the rest of the evening.  When she finally woke up, it was because Natasha was laying her on her bed.  She grumbled, latching onto Natasha and trying to pull her down with her. Natasha smiled and gently pried Morgan’s hands off of her.

“No,”  Morgan whined.

“I have to go home,”  Natasha whispered, not wanting to pull Morgan out of her sleepy state.  “Uncle Steve misses me and Mommy and Daddy are home now.”

“Mommy and Daddy?”  Morgan repeated sleepily.  Natasha nodded and pulled away from Morgan.  She kissed Morgan’s cheek then quietly left her room, leaving Morgan to sleep off the rest of her flu.

“Thanks again, Natasha,”  Pepper said. Natasha brushed her off; she didn’t mind taking care of Morgan.  She rather enjoyed the little girl.

“It wasn’t a problem at all,”  she assured her. She got back on the Stark Industries jet and flew back to the Compound.  By the time they landed around 10:30 PM, it was getting dark outside. Natasha climbed on her motorcycle and hurried home.


	4. Chapter 4

“Welcome home,”  Steve said when he heard her walk in.  Natasha went straight to where he was sitting in the living room and collapsed beside him on the couch.  He wrapped an arm over her shoulders and she tucked her feet up underneath her so she was pressed against his side.  “How’s Morgan doing?”

“Much better,”  Natasha replied.  She shifted slightly so her legs weren’t uncomfortable and threw them over Steve’s lap instead.  “Her fever is nearly gone and she stopped vomiting after her bath.”

“That’s good,”  Steve said, tracing light patterns on her shoulder.  She nodded against his chest and closed her eyes. “Are you exhausted?”  Suspicious, she opened her eyes again and looked up at him.

“Why?”  she asked.  Steve moved her so she was sitting on his lap facing him and let his hands travel to her bottom.

“You said I had to enjoy my day off, right?”  he whispered, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to hers.  He gave her butt a firm squeeze and Natasha brought her arms around his neck.

“I thought you and Sam had a good day,”  she smirked. Steve rolled his eyes and moved his hands under her butt.  She rolled her hips forward, pressing against his member. She leaned forward and began to kiss his neck slowly.  She grinned against his neck when she felt him harden and grow underneath her and continued to litter kisses along his jaw.  “Is this enough to make your day?” she murmured, rolling her hips ever so slowly over his lap.

“No,”  he replied.  She moved her lips to his mouth and kissed him deeply, continuing to move her hips all over his erection.  Steve moved his hands from her butt and pulled off her shirt then his own. When he moved forward to continue kissing her, he was stopped.

“I think that was enough,”  Natasha said, smirking as she climbed off his lap to grab her shirt.  Steve stared at her as she bent over to grab it then stood back up. “Good night,”  she whispered, barely brushing her lips over his in a feathery light kiss.

She didn’t get very far down the hall before Steve leapt off the couch and chased after her.  He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Steve carried her all the way back to their bedroom, kicking the door shut then falling onto the bed.  Natasha immediately flipped them over so she was on top and smirked down at him.

“If you want to do this, then I get to be in control this time,”  she told him. Steve immediately agreed, more focused on getting her back down to kiss him than what he was agreeing to.  As it turned out, he wasn’t going to get the kiss he wanted until Natasha had had her fun.

* * *

Natasha really needed to sneeze but she knew that it would wake Steve up as soon as she did.  She scrunched up her face, wiggling her nose in hopes it would keep her from sneezing. Her nose continued to tingle and she barely had time to bury her face in her pillow before she sneezed.  Steve shifted beside her and she froze. He wrapped his arm around her waist tighter and pulled her closer to his chest, but he didn’t wake up. Natasha grinned victoriously and curled around him, only to sneeze again.  This time, Steve did wake up.

“Tasha?”  he groaned, blinking to adjust to the light.  He looked over her shoulder to see Natasha about to sneeze again.  “What’s wrong?” he asked. She rolled onto her back so she could face him and frowned.

“I think I’m getting sick,”  she told him. Steve’s face morphed into worry as he looked her over.  She was a little paler than usual and her nose was red, but that could just mean she was cold.  “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, it’s okay,”  he assured her, glancing at the clock.  “It’s about time we get up anyway if we want to be on time for Wanda’s birthday party.”

“Oh right,”  Natasha exclaimed, suddenly remembering that was today.  She threw off her covers and reached for the clothes that had been discarded the night before.  She got up, not caring that she was completely naked, and threw her clothes in the laundry bin. Steve stayed in bed, trying to convince himself he wasn’t tired.  When Natasha paused in the bathroom doorway and glanced back over her shoulder, Steve hopped off the bed and followed her in. He wasn’t tired anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Wanda’s birthday party was small considering she didn’t know many people outside of the team.  Clint had brought his whole family, all three kids and their newest baby Stella. Nathaniel was now seven years old while Lila and Cooper were thirteen and fifteen respectively.  They self entertained around the Compound pretty well, but Cassie was there with Scott so they weren’t the only kids. Nathaniel was best friends with Morgan and FRIDAY was watching over the entire building, so no one was really worried about what the kids would get into while the adults talked.

“Wanda, you said you wanted vanilla ice cream, right?”  Pepper asked, looking in the freezer that had been locked for the past few days.  Wanda nodded and Pepper counted the cartons of vanilla they had. There were only seven and she could have sworn she’d gotten eight.  Suspiciously, she opened the trash can to discover an empty vanilla carton. She rolled her eyes but ignored it when she saw Wanda and Vision actively avoiding her eyes with red faces.

The front door opened as Steve and Natasha walked into the Compound, immediately being attacked by Nathaniel and Morgan.  Natasha stumbled backward at the impact, colliding with Steve’s chest. She grinned, happy to see Morgan had made a complete recovery from her flu if the wide grin and constant energy was anything to go by.

“Hi, Auntie Nat!”  Nathaniel yelled, throwing his arms around her waist.  Natasha leaned down and kissed his head, hugging him back just as tight.

“Hey, Nate,”  she replied. She moved out of the way so Steve could join Pepper in the kitchen and smiled as he scooped Morgan up in one arm.  “Are you here to help cook or to eat all the food?”

“To eat all the food!”  Nathaniel exclaimed. Natasha laughed and walked with him further into the Compound.  He climbed up a stool at the counter and watched as Natasha joined his mom and Aunt Pepper in the kitchen.  Steve still had Morgan in one arm and was trying to navigate his way to the sink, but it wasn’t working to well.

“Alright,”  he said, using one arm to hold Morgan’s legs up and the other to hold up her back.  “Over you go,” he told her, lifting her over the counter and stretching to put her on a stool beside Nathaniel.  She giggled, nearly falling out of Steve’s grip, and kneeled on the stool to watch the adults better. After a while, Nathaniel and Morgan got bored and disappeared outside to play until they were done.

Natasha was in the middle of stirring some sauce when her stomach tightened.  She stopped, grabbing onto the counter as her stomach flipped around inside her and tried to throw up her breakfast.  She choked down the vomit and waved Steve over to stir the sauce.

“Are you alright?”  he asked, using one hand to stir and resting the other on her lower back.  Natasha nodded, struggling to keep down another bout of vomit that had risen up her throat.

“I’ll be right back,”  she said quickly. She hurried out of the kitchen and down the hall to the nearest bathroom.  She had barely kicked the door shut and collapsed in front of the toilet before she threw up what little breakfast she’d had.  Once her stomach had been emptied, she started to dry heave over the toilet. Her throat burned and each heave was painful, but eventually she stopped.

She pushed herself up from the floor and flushed the toilet.  She’d just finished washing out her mouth when the need to vomit again overcame her.  Her stomach had already been emptied and she was only throwing up stomach acid at this point.  She didn’t dry heave nearly as long this time and sat back against the wall once she’d finished.  She took slow, deep breaths and reached up to feel her forehead. She didn’t feel warm, but she doubted she’d be able to tell very well herself.

“FRIDAY?”  she asked, her voice scratchy from throwing up.

“Yes, Mrs. Rogers?”  FRIDAY replied. Natasha pushed herself back off the floor, trembling slightly as she stepped towards the sink and washed out her mouth again.

“What’s going on with me?”  she asked. FRIDAY was quiet as she quickly analysed Natasha.  She flushed the toilet again then washed her hands before FRIDAY answered.

“It appears you are suffering from morning sickness,”  FRIDAY told her. Natasha frowned. Wasn’t that something pregnant women got?  There was absolutely no way she was pregnant; the Red Room was nothing if not effective at sterilizing their agents.

“I’m sorry, what?”  Natasha asked. FRIDAY repeated her previous diagnosis.

“I am picking up two heartbeats and the presence of a small being inside you,”  FRIDAY told her. Natasha barely heard FRIDAY’s next words as she processed what this meant, but they still echoed through her head.  “You appear to be about three months pregnant, Mrs. Rogers.”


	6. Chapter 6

After convincing FRIDAY not to tell anyone and to delete all record of diagnosing her, Natasha returned to the front rooms.  The food had finished while she’d been in the bathroom and everyone was gathering in the kitchen. Natasha slipped up behind Steve silently, wrapping her arms around him from behind.  He jumped and twisted around to see who had grabbed him. When he realised it was Natasha, he relaxed and turned to wrap an arm around her.

“Where did you go?”  he asked quietly. Natasha looked up at him, not terribly surprised to see he’d been worrying.  “You were gone for a while.”

“I know,”  she answered.  “I had to go to the bathroom, but one of the kids had plugged it and I had to find a plunger.”

“Oh,”  Steve replied.  He nodded and if that made perfect sense and Natasha smiled.  She’d tell Steve later since Wanda’s birthday party didn’t seem like the best place.  He leaned down and kissed her forehead as the last person ducked into the kitchen. Once everyone had arrived, they were allowed to dish up their food.  The kids went first and were followed by Wanda. After that, it was all elbows and fighting to see who got to get food next.

* * *

Wanda’s party lasted all day.  She opened presents after lunch then the kids returned to their own activities.  Cooper sat in the living room with the adults for a little while before he got bored and pulled out a tablet.  When it got dark out, Pepper called Morgan and Nathaniel inside to play and they scampered down to the training room to continue playing.  By 9PM, they figured they should probably wrap up and put the kids to sleep.

Natasha and Steve worked to clean up the kitchen after a late dinner while Pepper and Laura put their kids to bed.  The Bartons were staying at the Compound for another two days before they’d head back and Morgan was staying with them.  Wanda and Vision were talking quietly in the living room and Rhodey was talking with Bruce and Tony. Scott and Clint had gone to help get the kids to bed and Sam had already left.  The Compound was much quieter than it had been a couple hours earlier, but it was a relaxed and comfortable silence.

“Are you ready to go?”  Steve asked, drying his hands after finishing up the dishes.  Natasha was sitting on the counter top she’d just cleaned and Steve refrained from reminding her that sitting on a clean counter defeated the purpose of cleaning it.

“Yeah,”  she replied, reaching out toward him.  Steve walked over to stand between her legs and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  She leaned against him, closing her eyes as she used him for a pillow.

“You can’t sleep here,”  Steve told her softly, running a hand up and down her spine.  “We’re only ten minutes away from home.”

“Carry me,”  she mumbled, refusing to let Steve go when he tried to pull away.  He sighed and scooped her up off the counter into his arms. She smiled and draped an arm behind his neck as he carried her into the living room where the remainder of the team was sitting.

“We’re gonna head out,”  he told them, motioning to Natasha in his arms.  “Someone can’t stay awake.”

“Hey, I just don’t want to walk,”  Natasha protested. He rolled his eyes and said goodbye to the team, receiving a chorus of ‘bye’ and ‘goodbye’ in response.  He carried Natasha out to their car and set her in the passenger seat. It wasn’t a long drive back, but Natasha had started to doze off on the way, so he carried her inside.  He took off both of their shoes at the front door and didn’t turn on any lights as he made his way to their bedroom by memory.

“You have to change, Nat,”  he whispered, sitting her upright on the bed.  She groaned and pulled off her shirt and pants without opening her eyes.  Steve handed her one of his shirts to pull on over her head. As soon as he’d released her to change himself, she laid back on the bed and promptly fell asleep.  Steve crawled in beside her, pulling the blankets out from under her so he could cover them with them. Natasha rolled onto her side, throwing an arm over his bare chest and snuggling up beside him in her sleep.  He kissed her softly and pulled the blankets up to her chin before falling asleep himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve woke up before Natasha did the next morning.  He decided to go for a jog, leaving a note in the kitchen for Natasha in case she wondered where he had gone.  After six miles, he turned around and jogged back home. He walked into the house, heading straight for the kitchen to get water.  He had barely taken a sip from his glass when he heard what sounded like retching coming from their bathroom. He set down his cup and walked towards the sound curiously.  As he stepped into the bathroom, he found Natasha leaning over the toilet dry heaving.

“Natasha!”  he exclaimed, dropping down beside her.  He gently pulled back her hair and she slumped against his chest as she leaned back.  “You must have gotten Morgan’s flu,” he sighed, helping her stand back up.

She rinsed out her mouth, thankful she didn’t immediately vomit again afterward.  Steve carried her back to the bed and laid her down gently. He pressed his hand against her forehead and frowned when she didn’t feel that warm.

“You’re not warm,”  he told her. She just groaned and burrowed further under the blankets.  “Do you want me to stay here today?”

“No,”  she said, looking up at him from the bed.  “I’ll be fine. It should go away soon and if it doesn’t, I can call you.”  Steve was still hesitant to leave her, but she insisted. “I’m just going to sleep it off; I won’t need anything.”

“Alright,”  Steve said hesitantly.  He kissed her forehead and stepped into the bathroom to flush the toilet and shower quickly.  When he came back out, Natasha was fast asleep in the bed. He sighed and got dressed quietly, leaving for the Compound after a quick breakfast.  He’d come back at noon and check on her then. If she still wasn’t feeling good, he’d stay at home.

* * *

It took two hours before Natasha felt like she wasn’t going to throw up if she moved.  She slowly got out of bed and pulled on a pair of leggings. She kept Steve’s shirt on as she walked down the hall and into the kitchen.  He’d left some eggs in the fridge for her, but the thought of eating made her stomach churn, so she grabbed the orange juice instead.

She made her way to the living room, grabbing her laptop and opening a project she’d been working on.  She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she woke up, but she was suddenly struck with the feeling of someone watching her.  She looked up from her laptop, looking around the house carefully. She hadn’t heard anyone come in, but that didn’t mean she was safe.  She got up from the couch to look around the backyard. Just like the house, she couldn’t find anyone in either the back yard or the front yard.

The sound of the door shutting made her jump.  She quickly looked at the coffee table where she kept a gun despite not being on the field for five years.  She silently stepped towards it but stopped when Steve walked into the living room. He frowned as she visibly relaxed and looked around the house for what had set her on guard.

“What’s up?”  he asked, walking over to kiss her.

“You just scared me,”  she answered, kissing him back shortly.  She turned her head when he tried to kiss her again and smirked when he frowned at her.  “I’m sick, remember?”

“Clearly you’re feeling better if you’re up,”  he reasoned, trying to kiss her again. Natasha ducked, grinning when he tried again.  “If you don’t want to kiss me, just say so,” he teased.

“I don’t want you to get sick,”  she replied, walking into the kitchen to find something for lunch.

“I can’t get sick,”  he reminded her happily.  “Perks of being a super soldier.”

“Better safe than sorry,”  she smirked. Steve rolled his eyes and joined her in the kitchen for lunch.  He spent more time than usual at home, taking his time to eat and trying to figure out if Natasha really was feeling well enough he didn’t need to stay.  Apparently she figured out what he was doing though, because as soon as they’d finished washing the dishes and he was trying to think up excuses to stay longer, she turned to him with a smirk and said,  “I’m fine, Steve. Go do your thing at the Compound. I’m not going to die in the three hours you’ll be gone.”

“Maybe I just want to spend time with you,”  he tried, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her to his chest.  She smiled and stretched up to kiss his lips.

“I’ll be fine,”  she promised. Steve still looked unsure.  “I’m going to take another nap and I’ll text you as soon as I’m up.  If I get so much as a headache, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay,”  Steve sighed.  He hugged her tightly then left back for the Compound while Natasha went into their bedroom to take a short nap.


	8. Chapter 8

Natasha woke up to something smothering her face.  Her eyes shot open to see a darkly dressed figure sitting on top of her and pressing a rag to her mouth.  She immediately moved to push him off of her, but another figure was holding down her arms while a third held her legs.  She thrashed, trying to throw the man off but not succeeding. She managed to pull one foot loose and kicked the third person in the face.  They stumbled back and Natasha used her legs to throw the first man off of her. He fell off, but quickly regained his position on top of her while keeping the rag pressed to her face.  She held her breath and continued to fight back her attackers and move her face out from under the rag.

“ _ I told you it wouldn’t work _ ,”  the third person said in Russian.  Natasha’s blood ran cold and her eyes darted between the three figures.  She didn’t recognise them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t people she knew.  “ _ Use the other one _ .”  In one swift motion, the man on top of her pulled something from his pocket and slammed it into her shoulder.  She screamed but the rag muffled the sound. The man pulled the needle out of her arm after he’d emptied its contents into her bloodstream.  She began to feel her body get heavier and couldn’t trash around as hard. She fought to keep her eyes open, trying to stay awake and reach for her phone so FRIDAY could call Steve, but whatever drug they’d filled her with was strong.  She’d just managed to grab her phone, stretching out from where she was still trapped under the first man, when her vision went dark and she lost consciousness. 

* * *

Steve came home to an eerily silent home.  The sun was setting outside even though it was only about 4:30PM and casting weird shadows in the living room.  He flicked on a light, scanning the house for any sign that Natasha was home. She hadn’t texted him after her nap like she’d promised and he knew there was a possibility she was still asleep, but something felt off.

“Nat?”  he called, walking further into the house.  He peered into every room he passed but they were all empty.  When he came to the bedroom, he found the door was shut and locked.  He knocked but didn’t get an answer. He knocked harder, but there still wasn’t any response.  “Natasha, are you in there?” he asked. He knocked hard enough to dent the wood but she still didn’t respond.  Beginning to panic, Steve shouldered the door and forced it open. It came flying off its hinges and clattered to the floor, but Steve hardly noticed as he looked around the room.

Natasha’s phone was upside down on the floor and the bed was a mess.  There were books on the floor that had fallen off the shelf and the patio doors were unlocked.  He walked over to them and pulled them open. There was no sign anyone had used them, but they never left the doors unlocked.

“Natasha!”  Steve yelled.  His voice echoed across the lawn and through the house, but he got no reply.  He hurried back into the room, shutting the glass doors too hard and they shattered.  He picked up her phone and unlocked it. His contact was open and he knew she’d been about to call him before whatever had gone down here had happened.  He shoved her phone in his pocket and ran back out to the garage.

He sped the entire way back to the Compound.  Tony was getting into his car, talking to someone on the phone, when Steve jumped out of his car and ran over to him.  Tony looked up at him in confusion before hanging up on the person he’d been in the middle of talking to. Steve looked downright terrified which was not something Tony was used to seeing.  In a rush, Steve told him what he’d found at the house and that Natasha hadn’t been there.

“She’s gone, Tony, and I know we haven’t been out on the field in a while, but she still has enemies,”  Steve said, nearly in tears in the drive way. “Please, please help me.”

“What?  Like I was gonna say no?”  Tony retorted. Steve looked both relieved and annoyed at his response but didn’t say anything.  He followed Tony into the Compound and down to his lab. “Does she have anything that we can trace?  A tracking device on something she wears?” Tony asked, logging onto his computer and booting up his lab.

“No, she doesn’t like that kind of thing,”  Steve told him. Tony rolled his eyes.

“Neither does Pepper, but her ring is still a tracker,”  Tony said. Steve sighed, disappointed that he hadn’t thought ahead enough.  Natasha probably would have figured it out, though, if he knew anything about her, so it would have defeated the purpose.  “The alarms didn’t go off when someone broke in?”

“They weren’t set,”  Steve groaned. The first year or so they’d lived in there house, the alarms had been on 24/7.  They typed in a code every time they wanted in or out, but after a couple years of no trouble, they’d stopped keeping them on unless they were sleeping or gone.

“God, I make you an alarm system and you don’t even use it,”  Tony muttered. He typed something into his computer and multiple windows popped up.  Steve immediately recognised the area as just down the road from their house. He frowned, wondering how Tony could get this sort of feed, but Tony answered before he could ask.  “There’s a camera each direction every mile or so starting ten miles from the Compound. I just wanted a way to see who was headed this direction in case it was bad news.” He glanced up at Steve.  “Before you get mad at me, realise this is the only thing we have to find Natasha with and rethink your lecture.”

“I don’t approve of it, no,”  Steve admitted, watching as Tony sped up the feed and watched for cars that drove by.  “However, I do appreciate it right now.” Tony nodded, pleased with himself, then paused the videos as a car past.  He typed in the plate number and wrote down the person’s name and address. Aside from Steve, Pepper, the Bartons, or any other Avenger, only three cars had gone down the road past Steve and Natasha’s house in the three hours Steve had been gone.  One car belonged to a Patrick Morris, another to a Lydia James, and the third didn’t have a plate at all. Tony checked every angle he could to see inside the cars, but no faces were visible. He wrote down all the identifying marks of the car and used them to track it through New York.  However, it never showed up in any city. After it had passed the last camera Tony had set it, it was never spotted again. The light it would have had to go through further up the road didn’t have video of it going through, which meant they would probably find it on the five miles between the light and the last camera.

“Let’s go,”  Tony said, leading the way out of his lab and toward his car.  He made a mental note to tell Pepper he wouldn’t be home that night or for a while until they found Natasha.  He may not be as close to her as Barton or Steve, but he wasn’t just going to leave her with who knew who while he had a nice night with his family.


	9. Chapter 9

Natasha woke up to a jarring pain surging through her body from her shoulder blade.  She could feel electricity coursing through her as her muscles seized and she shook on the ground.  When the current stopped, she breathed heavily and looked up, pushing herself into a sitting position instead of remaining sprawled out on the floor.  She looked up to see who had electrocuted her but her eyes stopped on the first face she saw.

“Alexei?”  she whispered, staring in disbelief up at the man.  His arms were crossed tightly and he was frowning as he glared at her.  The man to his left leaned forward and the electricity coursed through her again.  She grit her teeth, trying to stay upright but failed. She fell forward onto the ground in front of her and the current stopped.  She pushed herself up again and stared at Alexei in front of her.

“ _Welcome home, Natalia_ ,”  he told her bitterly in Russian.  He spit at her and she flinched as it hit her face.  She wiped it off her cheek but didn’t look up in time to anticipate the hard slap he gave her.  Her head snapped to her right and her face stung. “ _I hope you regret ever joining the Americans._ ”

“ _I could never regret the best decision in my life_ ,”  Natasha replied harshly.  Alexei looked at her in cruel amusement as he stepped back and let two men stand between him and Natasha.

“ _You will change your mind,_ ”  he promised her.  He gave his men the go ahead and the first man kicked Natasha in the stomach.  A sharp pain coursed through her stomach and she was suddenly reminded of FRIDAY’s diagnosis.  She curled around her stomach protectively, trying to prevent each kick from striking her abdomen and injuring the tiny human inside her.  She hadn’t had much time to grow attached to it, but she wasn’t going to let Alexei have the pleasure of taking away the one miracle she thought she’d never get.

One man reached forward and pulled her to her feet, holding her up while the second man punched her repeatedly in the face.  She felt more than heard the crack as her nose broke and blood trickled down her face. She spit the blood on the floor, coughing as her mouth filled with the horrible iron taste.  Thankfully, the men avoided her abdomen as they beat her harshly, bruising her face and getting close to breaking her arm. Suddenly, they let her go and she crumpled to the floor. She curled up to protect her stomach, wrapping an arm over it protectively as Alexei leaned down to look at her again.

“ _Welcome back,_ ”  he hissed.  He turned and left the room, leaving Natasha in pain on the floor with nothing to do but worry about whether or not the few hits to her abdomen had been hard enough to hurt her baby.

* * *

Just like Steve had worried, they found the car ditched on the side of the road.  They followed a trail of trampled grass and broken branches only to find what looked like the imprint of jet wheels.  Tony cursed and Steve punched a tree in frustration. They really were in the dark on this one with nothing to track Natasha with or any leads as to where she could have gone.

Tony pulled open the front door of the car and scanned the interior.  FRIDAY sent all the information back to the lab and he used a gauntlet to grab the key ring on the dash.  He’d scan it for fingerprints at the lab or any other traces of DNA he could find. Before that, though, he’d have to stop Steve from destroying the surrounding forest.

“Hey, man, calm down,”  Tony said, approaching Steve and trying to pull him away from a tree he was furiously beating.  He barely raised his gauntlet in time to stop Steve’s fist from colliding with his face. Steve took deep breaths, trying to calm down while Tony stood there quietly.  “I have to admit, this isn’t looking very good,” Tony said once Steve had calmed down.

“Whatever gave you that impression?”  Steve snapped. Tony ignored him knowing he’d probably be just as irritable if someone had kidnapped Pepper.

“We have to head back to the lab, though,”  Tony told him, holding up the key. “I’m going to run DNA scans and see if we can figure out where this thing came from while you think up everyone Natasha’s ever mentioned might want to hurt her.”

“Most of them are Russian names,”  Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair.  “I’ll probably slaughter them.”

“Hey, but that’s a good start,”  Tony encouraged, leading him back through the forest to their car.  “I can run through SHIELD files and private information that might have some names and you can compare with your own mental notes.”  Steve nodded silently, staring out the window as Tony drove them back to the Compound.

When they walked inside, they were met by Rhodey and Clint.  Based on the way they approached, Tony knew they’d figured out something was going on.  He widened his eyes behind Steve’s back, frantically shaking his head and cutting at his throat with his finger to warn them not to ask.  Either they purposely ignored him or they figured it wasn’t that big of a deal, because the first thing they asked was what was going on.

“Natasha’s been kidnapped and we don’t have any tips as to who it could be,”  Steve growled, storming past them and down to Tony’s lab. Tony gave Rhodey and Clint irritated glares and hurried after Steve.  Rhodey and Clint followed close behind, wanting to know more.

“Hey, how about instead of upsetting the super soldier that could destroy my lab without breaking a sweat, you try and be helpful by leaving?”  Tony suggested, watching Steve angrily pace through the room. Steve muttered an apology but didn’t pretend he was any less panicked.

“We can help here,”  Clint told him. Tony took a deep breath as he paused to remain calm.  He shoved the key in a scanner and had FRIDAY pull up its stats on a holographic screen.  While FRIDAY scanned it, he worked on searching for names in Natasha’s files that could lead to possible kidnappers.

“You want to help?”  Tony asked, glancing up from his computer screen briefly.  Rhodey and Clint nodded anxiously and Tony pointed to a screen that had the information they’d gathered so far.  “Search and compare all that to what comes up from the key scan.”


	10. Chapter 10

They weren’t very successful in their research.  Everything Tony found led to dead ends and the key didn’t reveal anything they didn’t already know.  Clearly the kidnappers had used gloves to prevent fingerprints and managed to keep even dandruff out of the car.  The only DNA they found belonged to Natasha which only confirmed that she’d been taken and wasn’t out shopping with Wanda and Laura.  It had been nearly 24 hours since Steve had last seen her and he was getting more and more anxious by the minute.

“It has to be Russia,”  Clint said for the third time.  Despite all the leads being fake or dead, Clint was absolutely certain the Red Room was involved.  Steve didn’t say it out loud, but he knew Clint was right. Very few people would have been as careful or knowledgeable when it came to kidnapping her.  Of course, she had other enemies out there that could have been just as good, but Steve had the feeling Russia played a major part in it this time.

“We’ve been through the files of known HYDRA, KGB, and Red Room associates and they were all either killed by her personally or died by other causes,”  Rhodey reminded him. Tony leaned back in his computer chair, glancing across the room where multiple profiles were sitting open. Black and white photos of each suspect stared back at him as well as large red Cyrillic that translated to say either ‘dead’ or ‘deceased’.

“What if she didn’t give us every name?”  Tony suggested, staring at the faces. Everyone looked at him and he sat upright.  “I mean, think about it: she might not have held a grudge against everyone involved, but maybe they’d hold a grudge against her for leaving.”

“You’re saying she lied?”  Clint accused. Tony sucked in a breath and opened his mouth to argue, but couldn’t come up with anything to say.  “You think she hid something that important all these years because what, she “didn’t hold a grudge”? That’s absurd, Tony.  She hated everything about that place.”

“I’m just saying, it’s a possibility,”  Tony defended. He gestured towards the photos as he stood up, walking over to get a closer look.  “We all have people that we left behind at some point that we may not hate, but who’s to say they don’t hate us?”

“I think it’s worth a shot,”  Steve said. He hadn’t slept since he’d discovered Natasha had gone missing and even though he didn’t technically need to sleep as often as normal people, Tony could see he was exhausted.  The stress of everything was getting to him and he was vibrating with anxiety so much that Tony was worried he’d combust.

“Fine, see where it takes you,”  Clint said, clearly not happy with the idea.  Tony tapped on the first file and searched for everyone who’d ever had contact with them.  Rhodey stepped up to another hologram and copied Tony’s actions. After a while, Steve joined while Clint left to make them more coffee.

* * *

Natasha ached all over.  She had a cut down her upper arm that was still trickling blood even though it was an hour old.  The t-shirt she’d been wearing as covered in blood and ripped in places. Her legging were ripped as well and her legs hurt too much to move.  Thankfully they weren’t broken as far as she could tell, but they were obviously horribly bruised. She was terrified that the bruising on her ribs extended far enough to harm her baby, but she couldn’t do anything about it.  She just sat curled up in the corner, hand on her belly and she subconsciously rubbed circles under her shirt.

“ _ Get up _ !”  Alexei shouted from outside the door.  She jumped, pulling her hand away from her stomach just as he walked into her room.  Three men pulled her to her feet and dragged her out of the cell after Alexei. She stumbled along, pain coursing through her with every limp as she forced herself to continue forward.

“ _ Useless bitch _ ,”  a man growled, hauling her to her feet again as she stumbled and collapsed.  Her knee hit the cement painfully and she bit back a cry of pain. She was dragged down multiple hallway and into a room.  The walls were painted dark red and the carpeting was dark and plush. The men forced her into a chair and cuffed both of her wrists to the arms of it.  Two stood at her side and one stayed behind her. She heard rustling then the clicking of a gun before the cold barrel was pressed to the back of her head.

Alexei took a seat in front of her on the other end of his desk.  He turned a camera so it was facing her and turned on his computer screen.  He glanced at Natasha but didn’t say anything as he typed. A few seconds later, she heard the familiar dial tone of Skype and knew exactly what was happening.

“ _ They’re not stupid, _ ”  she told him.  The man on her right gave her a hard slap with the back of his hand and she blinked to prevent her eyes from watering.  “ _ They’ll track you.  You won’t be hidden after this. _ ”

“ _ Oh I’m counting on it _ ,”  Alexei smirked.  He turned to the screen and grinned when he realised they had answered his call.

“Natasha!”  Steve exclaimed as the screen in front of him revealed her.  She was cuffed to a chair and three men stood around her. He couldn’t see their faces, but he could see the gun pointed at her head and the bruises covering her face and arms.  “Oh god, I’m so sorry we aren’t there yet, love, we’re coming.”

“You might want to, Captain,”  a clear voice said. Steve frowned, not sure who had spoken.  Tony was already working on tracing the signal, making a motion for Steve to keep the line connected.  “Your lovely wife may not have mentioned me, but my name is not important. The important thing here is that you listen.”

“What do you want?”  Steve asked, aware of how horribly cliche it sounded, but not caring.  He couldn’t look away from Natasha’s beaten face or cut arm. He wondered if she could even see the screen or if she was even aware she was being filmed.

“I want to see you all suffer,”  the man answered. One of the men beside Natasha pulled out a knife and made another cut on her already cut arm.  Natasha tried to pull away, scrunching her face in pain and gasping silently. She panted as the man slowly pulled the knife out and blood flowed out of the fresh wound.

“Please, there has to be something else,”  Steve exclaimed, trying to look away from the screen but unable to.  The second man beside her tried to punch her abdomen, but Natasha brought her legs up quickly and deflected the blow.  The man chuckled darkly and Steve watched in horror as hit after hit was delivered to Natasha. Her legs never left their place in front of her stomach no matter how painful it must have been to keep herself curled up.

“You know what’s interesting,”  the man mused, making Steve’s blood boil as he chuckled.  “She won’t let us hit her abdomen. I wonder why that is.”  He said something in Russian and one of the men beside her pried her legs away from her stomach.  Natasha kicked and yelled in Russian, fighting as hard as she could to keep her legs tucked close.  Steve watched as her expression darkened moments before she broke the handcuffs off the chair and sprung up.  She punched a man in the face, taking the knife that had been used on her to slice his neck. A body fell to the floor but she couldn’t stop the other two.  One man grabbed her from behind while the other tried to subdue her. There was shouting in Russian and Steve’s heart raced. Suddenly, Natasha was yelling something, screaming directly into the camera in a language Steve didn’t recognise.

Tony’s head snapped up and he looked at the screen.  His eyes widened the more Natasha screamed and he froze.  Steve looked at him quickly, trying to ignore the tears he could see in Natasha’s eyes as she fought the two men.  A hand was wrapped around her mouth, but she bit the man’s fingers and screamed again, a hoarse, desperate cry that Steve couldn’t understand.

“ _ Sono incinta!  Tony, sono incinta! _ ”  she cried in Italian, fighting the men even harder.  Tony rushed to the screen in horror, watching as she was hit and shoved around harshly.

“Where are you?”  he demanded. He repeated it in Italian, desperate for an answer even more than before.

“Alexei Shos—”  The video cut off before she could finish and the screen went black.  Tony punched the screen, making it crash to the floor and shatter. He cussed in Italian, pulling at his hair and pacing the lab in a panic.

“What did she say?”  Steve asked, grabbing Tony’s arms to stop his pacing.  His eyes were wild with panic and beginning to fill with tears.  “What did she tell you, Tony?”

“I can’t—You don’t know?”  he asked, looking at Steve painfully.  Steve shook his head, a couple tears starting down his face.  Tony’s face fell and he closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he told Steve,  “She’s pregnant. She said she was pregnant.”


	11. Chapter 11

Steve cried for an hour.  Tony sat in his chair hopelessly, listening as Steve sobbed into his hands on the couch in Tony’s lab.  Clint returned to the lab to see them both looking utterly devastated and knew something had happened. He’d gone out to spend a couple hours with his family before they left and returned to glass shattered on the lab floor and two grown men with red, puffy eyes.  He looked around the room silently, trying to figure out what had happened but unable to. 

“Tony, what’d you find?”  he asked hesitantly. Tony shook his head sadly and Clint felt his heart drop.  “What happened? Did you find her?”

“They called,”  he said hoarsely.  He looked up at Clint who held his breath as he heard Tony’s next words.  “They’re using her to make us suffer. I tracked the call, but it was incomplete.  Somewhere in central Russia, but no exact location.”

“Did she say anything?”  Clint asked desperately. Steve choked back a sob, but Clint heard it and glanced in his direction.  “She’s not dead, right? They couldn’t have killed her!”

“She’s not dead,”  Tony promised, rubbing his hand across his face.  “She tried to tell us who had her, but she couldn’t finish before they cut off the call.  Someone named Alexei Shos-something.”

“Alexei Shostakov?”  Clint asked. Tony frowned and looked up at him.  “She was talking about Alexei Shostakov?”

“I guess,”  Tony replied, shrugging.  “Why? Who is he?” Clint didn’t reply as he pushed Tony aside and typed the name into his search database.  The only thing that came up was one sentence about his death in Russia. Clint frowned and glanced up at the files that were still projected across the room.

“She said he was dead,”  he murmured, looking between the two screens.  He highlighted the word ‘dead’ on the document and looked through every file they’d pulled up earlier, saving the ones that had the same word and closing the ones that said ‘deceased’.  “He died before she left the Red Room; it was one of the influencing factors that caused her to defect. When she talks about Petrovitch, though…” Clint trailed off, pulling up Ivan Petrovitch’s profile that was stamped ‘dead’.  Clint stepped back as he pieced together what had happened. “She says Petrovitch is alive; she didn’t kill him even though she had the chance.”

“Then why’s it say he’s dead?”  Rhodey asked, pointing at the large red letters.

“It’s a cover-up,”  Clint answered. He pulled up another file, this one said ‘deceased’.  “I killed that man five years after Natasha joined SHIELD and his says deceased, but we know Petrovitch is alive.”

“They mark the files differently depending on their real status,”  Tony realised. Clint nodded. “Like with Fury a while back; people wanted them dead so they faked a death and marked them as such, but they’re still alive.”

“Every file that says ‘deceased’ needs to be re-evaluated,”  Clint instructed. Tony nodded and immediately got to work looking into the various people they’d uncovered.  “You know what else she told me about Shostakov?” Clint asked, drawing all of their attention. “He’s from Novosibirsk.”

* * *

She was pretty sure Alexei had figured out her situation much faster than she would have liked.  He had clearly been suspicious which is why he commented on it while calling Steve and Tony, but now she’d practically confirmed it.  Even if she knew Alexei didn’t speak Italian, she knew he’d figure it out. With her luck, he’d have learned it since the last time she saw him nearly twenty years ago and knew exactly what she’d told Tony.

“ _ You are a disgrace _ ,”  Alexei spit at her, kicking her side.  She curled up tightly, trying to avoid his kicks, but it was no use when she was backed up in a corner.  “ _ I left the motherland in your hands and you betrayed it _ .”

“ _ You lied to me _ !”  Natasha exclaimed, wincing as his heel collided with her already injured arm.  “ _ You died and now you come back.  Why now? Why not before? _ ”

“ _ It wasn’t worth it _ ,”  he growled, grabbing her arm and pulling her up to meet his eyes.  “ _ I was angry, yes, but I needed something more than just the satisfaction of killing you.  I will use you to make everyone you love suffer and it will be your fault. If you hadn’t defected, they wouldn’t be suffering _ .”

“ _ I do not regret my choice _ ,”  she hissed, spitting in his face.  Alexei narrowed his eyes, lips twitching in angry before he brought his knee up sharply and slammed it into her abdomen.  Natasha gasped as she keeled forward but was unable to prevent him from kneeing her again, just as harsh as before. He let her go, hitting her head with his elbow and watching her crumple to the floor.

“ _ You do not deserve what you have _ ,”  he told her, glaring at her as she panted on the ground.  “ _ The Red Room made you sterile and no matter how hard you try, you will never be good enough to be a mother. _ ”  He chuckled darkly as Natasha panted on the floor, hand on her stomach.  Dull pains shot through her lower abdomen and she squeezed her eyes shut.  She clutched desperately at her stomach, willing her baby to be okay as the pains began to feel more like cramps and she felt nauseous.

Alexei continued to laugh to himself as he left the room, slamming the cell door behind himself and leaving Natasha alone.  In a panic, Natasha pulled down her torn leggings. To her horror, she discovered blood had soaked through her underwear and appeared to still be coming.  She choked back a sob and leaned back against the brick wall. Alexei had killed her baby.


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks to Clint, Tony was able to find a list of people that could lead them to or be involved in Natasha’s kidnapping.  Steve had managed to pull himself together long enough to map out locations they would check. Within eight hours of the call, the team was loading the jet and headed towards Novosibirsk, Russia.  They had all been informed on what had happened and taken the news with varying reactions. Wanda had gasped, tearing up and disappearing after she’d heard the news and Vision had gone with her. Sam was sitting beside Steve silently, trying to process the fact that one of his best friends had been missing for nearly 48 hours and he hadn’t noticed.  Tony and Clint distracted themselves with flying the jet.

The flight was long and quiet.  As they neared the first location, the jet began to feel too small.  Steve fidgeted impatiently, letting his mind run through every scenario it could come up with.  He’d long since given on trying to stop it. At this point, he just wanted to stay awake and find Natasha before anything worse happened.

“Alright, team,”  Tony said, drawing everyone’s attention to him.  “We don’t have a confirmed location, so this is our first stop.  We’re not sure where they could be hiding, so look hard and be sure when you say she isn’t here.”  With that, the jet door opened and they filed out of the jet. They split up, taking different parts of the compound.  After an hour of thorough searching, they decided the place was long since deserted and moved on to their second location.

* * *

Natasha had to use the wool blanket she’d been given to soak up her blood.  She didn’t bother wiping her tears as she mopped up the blood from her leggings and on the floor.  The blood was still coming slowly, but she’d already passed the baby. It hadn’t been long after Alexei left before a little clump that looked more like a blood clot than a baby had found it way to the floor.  She’d cried even more at the sight of it and gently wrapped it up in the wool blanket. She tried to rip the blanket to use under her leggings to keep from continuing to bleed through, but she could barely move one arm and it was too hard to rip it with her left arm, so she was left to just sit on it.

She jumped as the door to her room was unlocked and hurried to pull her leggings back on.  She barely managed to put them back in place when she was pulled up from her spot and dragged out of the room.  Alexei was nowhere in sight, but she recognised the three men from earlier. Two of them looked angrier than usual and she figured it was because she’d killed their partner.  She didn’t feel at all sorry for them, regretting not killing them in the same move.

“ _Your American friends have arrived_ ,”  Alexei told her, stepping from around the corner and leading them down the hall.  “ _It took them long enough, but they are finally here._ ”  Natasha didn’t say anything back and Alexei glanced at her over his shoulder.  He scoffed at the sight of her. “ _You mourn for a creature that would have lived a miserable life.  You no longer have to bear the thought of being as bad a mother as you are a wife,_ ”  he said.  Natasha still said nothing, stumbling along behind him with the help of the three men holding her up.  They came to the end of the hall and Alexei knocked on the door. It opened and he walked in. The men that had been holding Natasha threw her roughly inside and the door shut.

Unlike Alexei’s office, this room was small and grey.  A man stood beside the door, glaring at Natasha on the ground as if she was ruining his life just by existing.  She pushed herself onto her knees and looked up at Alexei. She’d barely raised her head when a knife sliced across her cheek.  She barely felt the pain, letting the blood drip from her cheek slowly and she stayed still.

“ _They will find you,_ ”  Alexei promised her softly.  “ _They will find you, and they will watch me kill you_.”


	13. Chapter 13

Steve knew they’d arrived at the right place as soon as he saw a guard on a watchtower.  Clint had shot him before Steve could even point him out and Steve nodded his thanks. Clint just pushed him forward and they darted across the field and towards the large building.  Tony had hacked all their weaponry and Sam and Rhodey were taking out everyone outside. Clint, Wanda, Steve, and Vision made it inside without much trouble only to face a small army when they turned the corner.  Vision cut them all down with the mind stone while Wanda used her magic to kill the ones that managed to avoid Vision’s attack. Clint led them further down the hall, shooting arrows at anyone they came across.

The small armies came in waves.  They’d barely have time to advance before another group arrived and they’d have to take them out.  They weren’t making much progress and the more they fought, the more people arrived. Steve was just about to grab a guy’s gun and start shooting them down when they all fell to the ground.  Steve looked up behind him and saw Iron Man closing the compartment to what looked like a bunch of tiny missiles on his shoulder.

“Keep going,”  Tony told them, flying overhead and shooting down everyone in the next corridor.  When they came to a split in the hall, Tony quickly scanned the building and found Natasha’s stats appearing to their right.  They all turned and hurried down the hall before another army of soldiers came, but they remained alone. Steve slowed his run as they approached a heavy door at the end of the hall and glanced at Tony.

“This is too easy,”  he muttered. Tony nodded in agreement, scanned the hall and room ahead.  There didn’t appear to be any explosives and aside from Natasha, only two men were inside.

“Whoever it is, they’re expecting us,”  Tony said, stopping the team down the hall from the door.  Steve was itching to at least see inside and find out just how hurt Natasha was.  She hadn’t been gone very long, but that wasn’t necessarily a good indicator of how injured someone could be.

“I can hear them,”  Wanda said quietly, looking at the door as the team gathered.  “He is expecting us. He’s been waiting for this.”

“Who does he think is coming?”  Tony asked. Wanda went silent as she searched their minds then listed off Tony, Steve, and the man who stole her (Clint).  Wanda frowned but couldn’t find any more information. She could feel something blocking her from continuing and added herself to the list.

“He knows how to keep me out of his head,”  she told them. “He has to be expecting the entire team.”  Steve sighed and glanced up at the door in front of them. They couldn’t stall too much longer or they were sure to get caught by agents.

“Well, we’ve already stalled enough time for agents to overtake us any moment,”  Steve said, adjusting his shield and staring at the door ahead of them. “Let’s go say hello.”

* * *

Natasha didn’t move when she heard the door open.  Alexei was still standing behind her, the knife he’d used earlier at his side and slowly dripping blood just like her cheek.  She dared to look up, slowly so Alexei wouldn’t notice her movement and choked back a gasp when she just saw Steve. He had his shield on his back and while he looked visibly pissed, she could tell he was worried about her.

“Where are your friends?”  Alexei asked, twirling the knife in his hand.  Natasha had barely blinked when he quickly cut her shoulder.  Her shoulder dropped in pain and she grimaced from where she was kneeling on the floor.  Steve’s hand twitched as he moved to reach out to her, but he refrained.

“Taking care of your agents,”  Steve answered, looking at Natasha.  She didn’t look back at him and whether he was thankful or disappointed, he wasn’t sure.  Her hair was tangled as blood dried in it. One of her arms was already cut up pretty bad and now Alexei had stabbed her other shoulder.

“So you came here alone?”  Alexei mused, glancing at the man who stood against the wall.  Steve glanced at him, quickly sizing him up. “You must know I don’t believe that.”

“Check yourself,”  Steve invited. Alexei narrowed his eyes and snapped at the second man.  He moved from the wall and stalked towards Steve. Steve stepped out of the way and the man looked down the hallway.  The man nodded at Alexei; sure enough, Steve was alone.

“Oh, then this will be much more fun,”  Alexei said. He drew his knife again, slowly pulling it down her arm.  Natasha bit her lip to prevent herself from making a sound, but Alexei grabbed her arm harshly, pressing on the fresh cut, and she cried out in pain.  “ _ It will be less painful if you cry _ ,”  he coaxed, squeezing her arm when her short cry stopped.  Natasha gasped, breathing heavily as he pushed the knife all the way to her wrist before stopping.

Suddenly Alexei was surrounded in red light.  Natasha breathed as her pain became less if only for a minute then looked up to see an extremely mad Wanda.  She had both Alexei and the second agent surrounded in red. Alexei looked both thrilled and terrified to see her, but he kept the terrified part better hidden.  Nonetheless, Natasha could see it in his eyes when she looked up at him.

“You don’t deserve a merciful death,”  Wanda growled, glaring at Alexei. “I hope you rot in hell.”  She snapped the other man’s neck first then focused on Alexei.  As Natasha realised Wanda wasn’t going to let Alexei go, she dropped her head to her chest and nearly toppled over.  Steve was at her side in an instant, holding her upright but being careful of her open wounds.

“Steve,”  Natasha breathed, limply wrapping her arms around him.  She slumped against his chest and Steve stared at her helplessly, not sure how to pick her up without putting her in more pain.  Asking her to walk was out of the question. “Just get me out of here,” she told him, picking up on his hesitancy to carry her.

“I just…”  he trailed off at a loss for words.

“I’ll be fine,”  she assured him, moving to look up at his face.  His eyes immediately found the cut on her cheek and he gingerly raised a hand to brush the skin around it.  She tensed as he reached towards her. Even though she didn’t flinch, he could tell she was fighting the urge.  He pulled his hand back and gently picked her up. She sucked in a breath and Steve froze, but she promised she was fine.  Steve didn’t believe her, but he didn’t object as he turned to face Wanda. He’d almost forgotten she was holding Alexei hostage and from the look on his face, her magic was doing more than just keeping him still.

“ _ You will fail _ ,”  Alexei said, struggling to talk as he strained to see Natasha.  “ _ Just like you do with everything _ .”  Natasha didn’t react, but Steve’s hold on her tightened and he stormed out of the room.  Even though Natasha had taught him Russian many years earlier, he’d never heard anyone other than Wanda or Natasha speak it.  He resisted the urge to kill Alexei himself and turned his head enough he could watch as Wanda pulled his bones apart then kill him.  That would have to be enough.


	14. Chapter 14

Tony, Clint, Sam, Rhodey, and Vision provided enough cover for Steve to carry Natasha back to the jet and not jostle her too much with any sudden movement.  Wanda’s magic acted as a protective bubble around them until they were on the jet. Once the others joined, they took off back to the Compound. Natasha’s arm was bleeding rather profusely and instead of wrapping it in bandages, Tony covered it with nanotech.  He took care of her other cuts as well, but they waited on everything else until they could get a more professional opinion.

It was a long flight back and most of it was spent in silence.  Steve had carried Natasha to a more comfortable seat and curled around her.  She hadn’t said anything since Steve had carried her out of the building and no one wanted to force her to talk.  She was sitting on Steve’s lap, her knees and arms pulled loosely to her body. Her face was hidden in Steve’s chest and his arms were wrapped around her protectively.  Neither moved for the entire trip. Even when they hit turbulence and dropped, Steve’s arms merely wrapped around her tighter and he buried his face in her matted hair.

When they arrived back at the Compound, Natasha was immediately taken to medical.  Steve didn’t leave her side, leaving the others to clean up and take care of everything on the jet.  As they finished, they trickled into the medical wing to check on Natasha only to find out they weren’t allowed back.  Instead of asking Steve to come and update them as they knew he wouldn’t, Tony told FRIDAY to keep them informed and they went back up to the residential wing of the Compound.

Natasha didn’t need surgery as it turned out.  Her ribs were broken, but they could set them easy enough without having to go in and do it during surgery.  Thankfully there was no internal bleeding and they were able to stitch and wrap her arms without much difficulty.  It was Steve who quietly asked about the baby as Natasha still hadn’t said anything.

“Unfortunately, whatever Mrs. Rogers went through while behind enemy lines caused her to lose the baby,”  the doctor said sadly. Natasha reached for Steve’s hand without looking down and he squeezed her hand gently.  “Fortunately, during the miscarriage, Mrs. Rogers was not further injured and there is no treatment necessary.”

“Thank you,”  Steve said softly after a brief pause.  The doctor nodded and left the room, closing the door to give them privacy.  Steve sat on the bed and looked down at Natasha. Her eyes were closed, but he could see tears forcing their way down her face.  “Natasha?” he whispered, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. The doctor had washed her hair in order to assess if she had any head injury, but they’d found none.

“I’m sorry,”  Natasha murmured.  She took her hand out of Steve’s and covered her face.  He tried to take her hand back and coax her to open her eyes, but she tensed and he moved back.

“Why?  It’s not your fault for what Alexei did,”  he told her. She shook her head and dropped her hands from her face, looking at Steve with teary eyes.

“I messed up our only chance and I know how much you wanted a kid,”  she said. She wiped her face and looked down at her lap, refusing to look up at Steve no matter how many times he asked her too.  Eventually, he gave up. He moved on the bed so he was sitting beside her instead of facing her and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I love you,”  he whispered, pressing a kiss to her head then pressing his face to her hair.  “It’s not your fault the baby’s gone and who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky again.”

“Steve, you know that’s not going to happen,”  she said, shaking as she choked back a sob. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her as she tried to roll over.  Her arms protested in pain and she returned to laying on her back, but Steve stayed tucked up beside her with his arms around her.

“Please don’t blame yourself,”  he begged, swallowing back his own tears unsuccessfully.  “Please don’t do that.” Natasha didn’t respond and the room was quiet except for both of their soft cries.  After a while, Natasha fell asleep, but Steve didn’t. He stayed awake, watching over Natasha even though he knew the Compound was the safest place for them to be.


	15. Chapter 15

Natasha healed quickly.  Thanks to Tony being able to advance medicine in the Compound and the doctors being the best around, Natasha was released from medical four days after arriving.  Her arms were still wrapped and the cut on her cheek still looked nasty, but she was able to go back home with Steve and that made everything better. She was covered from head to toe in nasty bruises and every movement ached, but she pushed through the pain in hopes it would make her body heal faster.  Steve felt awful every time he accidentally pressed on a bruise no matter how often Natasha said it didn’t hurt.

“Steve?”  Natasha asked, curled around Steve in their bed.  It was dark and Natasha’s arm hurt as she laid on it, but she didn’t want to move.

“Yeah?”  Steve replied quietly.  Natasha’s hand reached for his in the dark and he gripped it gently.

“Am I a horrible wife?”  she whispered. Steve had to take a moment to process what she’d said, not sure if he’d heard her right the first time.  When she pulled away from him, he figured he’d heard her correctly and his pause wasn’t a good answer.

“Natasha, no,”  he said, reaching out to stop her from leaving.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back on the bed and hugging her as tight as he dared.  “You’re my favourite person in the world and I would rather die than have any other wife. Why would you doubt that?”  he asked softly, brushing a strand of hair off her face and looking at her worriedly.

“I just—I lost our baby, Steve!”  she exclaimed, her voice breaking at the end.  “I lost our baby and now we’ll never be able to have a kid because if it wasn’t impossible the first time, it definitely is now.”

“That doesn’t make you a horrible wife,”  Steve told her. She tried to pull away, but Steve just held her tighter.  “I don’t need kids to be happy, I just need you.” He buried his face in her neck and kissed the skin softly.  She continued to push against his chest, trying to get away, but Steve didn’t let her.

“Let me go,”  she said, hitting his chest hard.  Steve opened his arms and let her go.  She sat up and threw her legs off the side of the bed to stand up.

“Where are you going?”  he asked, sitting up and reaching for her hand.  She slipped out of his reach and left the bedroom.  In a panic, Steve threw off his covers and hurried out after her.  She was nowhere in sight despite how slow she walked and how long the house was.  “Natasha?” he called, looking in his office. She wasn’t in there so he checked the living room and kitchen.  Both places were empty and he called out for her again.

He checked the entire house twice before calling Tony.  Natasha wasn’t anywhere he could see her and he wasn’t even going to pretend he wasn’t panicking.  He continued to search the house after calling Tony out, making sure he hadn’t missed any place she could have hidden but didn’t find her.  Thirty minutes later and Tony hadn’t shown up yet, causing him to panic even more.

Steve was about to call the rest of the team when there was a knock on the door.  He silently walked to the door and looked out the peephole to see who it was. Tony was standing on the doorstep with Natasha.  Steve threw open the door and pulled Natasha into his arms without hesitation. She was freezing, but Steve’s body temperature ran higher than most so he wrapped himself around her instead of grabbing a coat.  She clung to him, digging her nails into his bare back as Tony shut the door behind him and reset the house alarm.

“She was at the end of the driveway,”  Tony told Steve quietly. Steve put a hand on her head and kissed her temple.  “You know, it’s probably better to talk about things than let them pent up inside.”

“What do you mean?”  Steve asked, glancing down at Natasha then back up at Tony.  “We have been talking about everything.”

“Talk some more,”  Tony advised. He put a hand on Natasha’s cold back and kissed her head gently.  “You’ll be okay, but it may take a while.” He left without another word, activating his Iron Man suit and shooting into the night sky.  Steve carried Natasha back to their bedroom, keeping her close to his body as she tried to warm back up.

“We talk about things, right?”  Steve asked, looking down at her as they laid in their bed.  “What did Tony mean when he said we needed to talk?”

“It’s about Alexei,”  she said, looking up at him nervously.  Steve’s mind immediately went to the worst case scenario as he stared at her worried face, but she rushed to reassure him.  “It’s nothing bad, not really. I just… there’s stuff I need you to know.”

“Alright,”  he said softly.  “What is it?”


	16. Chapter 16

Steve didn’t return to the Compound to train the team until Natasha was better.  Her stitches came out two and a half weeks after she’d returned and she was able to walk around without much pain.  Aside from her still healing ribs, she didn’t have any major injuries. Her face was no longer bruised so Steve wasn’t reminded of what had happened every time he looked at her, but she still had green and brown bruises on her abdomen and legs.  Nonetheless, she insisted she was fine and that Steve return to the Compound for work. He had only agreed to do so if Natasha came with him, still uncomfortable leaving her at home alone even if the alarm system would remain on.

“We’re gonna be late, baby,”  Natasha said, walking up behind Steve in the back room.  He was seated at his desk, writing something on a notepad hastily as Natasha rubbed his shoulders.  When he finished, he ripped the page off the notepad, folded it up, and slipped it in his back pocket as he stood up.  He wrapped an arm around her back and kissed her shortly.

“I’m ready,”  he grinned. She smiled back and they walked out to the car.  Steve opened her door for her then walked around to the driver’s side.  As soon as they were backed out of the garage and heading down the driveway, Natasha grabbed Steve’s hand and pulled it into her lap.  Steve glanced at her, making sure she was okay, then focusing back on the road.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Compound,”  Natasha murmured, looking out the window as they drove down the countryside.

“Are you okay?”  Steve asked, looking over at her.  She nodded and ran her fingers over the back of his palm.  Steve grabbed her fingers gently in his hand and brought her hand up to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles.  “Are you sure?” he asked. She shrugged.

“I’m going to the Avengers’ Headquarters,”  she told him with a small grin. “I’m even safer there than at home.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to feel fine about it,”  Steve replied. She sighed and leaned back in her seat, looking at Steve instead of the passing countryside.  “I’ll be nearby and Morgan will be the best bodyguard you’ve ever met.”

“Yes, she will,”  Natasha laughed. Steve smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  She hadn’t really been out of the house except to visit the medical wing at the Compound or visit for a short while.  Each time, Steve had been by her side the whole time. As much as they both refused to admit it, she wasn’t as comfortable being alone as she made it seem.  After one morning a week ago when Steve had left for his run before she woke up and came back to see her on the phone with Tony, shaking and teary-eyed, they’d both silently agreed Steve wouldn’t leave again for a while.

They pulled up to the Compound and climbed out of the car.  Natasha looped her arm through Steve’s and they walked into the Compound together.  Everyone was already down in the training room, even Morgan who was shooting a nerf gun in the shooting range with Wanda supervising.  When they realised Steve and Natasha had arrived, everyone gathered in the middle. Steve pulled off his sweater, leaving him in a t-shirt and sweatpants, while Natasha went over to join Morgan on the shooting range.

“Auntie Nat!”  Morgan shrieked, throwing her arms around Natasha’s neck when she knelt down beside her.  Natasha smiled and hugged Morgan back with minimal pain. Morgan pulled away quickly and showed Natasha her purple and green nerf gun.  “Uncle Sam got it for me!” she told Natasha.

“It’s pretty cool,”  Natasha replied. Morgan nodded and turned to point it at the target.  She was only about a metre away from the target and hit it in the centre.  Natasha applauded her and made her take a step back. Morgan frowned but did as instructed and tried again.  While the team trained, Natasha helped Morgan shoot her nerf gun. Every time she hit the centre, Natasha made her take a step back.  By the time training had finished, Morgan was two metres away from the target and getting closer to hitting the target.

“We’re done!”  Steve exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Natasha and burying his face in her neck.  She yelped, pushing his sweaty body off of hers and turning around to face him.

“You stink!”  she told him. Steve just grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her.  She gave him a stern look, darting her eyes down at Morgan who was still focused on the target.

“Good job, Morgan,”  Steve said as Morgan hit the ring just outside the centre.  Morgan shook her head at him and hurried to gather her darts.  “What’s up with her?” Steve asked, wrapping an arm around Natasha’s waist.

“She’s trying to hit the centre and get better than Uncle Clint,”  Natasha answered. Steve nodded, watching Morgan for a little while longer.  When Tony came over to get her, Steve pulled Natasha away and towards the training room showers.

“Hey!  Those are for cleaning yourselves!  Not other things,” Tony told them, giving them a pointed look.  Morgan looked at her dad in confusion and asked what he meant. Tony told her not to worry about it, scooping her up in his arms and kissing her cheek.  “Auntie Nat and Uncle Steve like to make my showers messy.”

“We clean up after ourselves,”  Steve told him. Tonny scrunched up his face and shook his head fiercely, carrying Morgan out of the training room while Steve and Natasha made their way towards the showers.  One of the many things they couldn’t do while Natasha was healing was have sex and they’d both be lying if they said they weren’t looking forward to when Natasha was completely better and they didn’t have to worry about being as careful as they currently did. 


End file.
